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Ensuring Optimal Vision for a Successful School Year

Published Aug 15, 2024

Category ECP Tips

Author

Laurie Pierce

Professor of Opticianry

The Critical Role of Vision in Learning
How Can We Support Children’s Vision?
Visual Performance: Enhancing Comfort and Clarity
The Advantage of Modern Bifocals
Why Bifocals for Kids?
Investing in Their Future

Ensuring Optimal Vision for a Successful School Year

The start of a new school year is a time of fresh beginnings, new goals, and countless opportunities for learning. Among the many back-to-school essentials, one item stands out as crucial for every child's academic success: proper eyewear.

The Critical Role of Vision in Learning

Vision is fundamental to learning. It brings to mind the classic quote: “We learn to read until the 4th grade, and then we read to learn for the rest of our lives”. As children progress in their education, the shift from ‘learning to read to reading to learn’ places increasing demands on their visual system. If a child struggles with visual abilities like tracking or focusing, their ability to absorb information can suffer. These challenges can lead to behavioral issues in the classroom, where the root cause is often misunderstood. Most commonly, their actions are more vision-related than behavioral.

How Can We Support Children’s Vision?

Addressing children's vision needs involves two key aspects:

Visual Performance
Aesthetic Appeal

Visual Performance: Enhancing Comfort and Clarity

Today’s students spend significant amounts of time on close-up tasks and digital devices, which can lead to visual fatigue. We are learning that there is a plethora of convergence insufficiency and other ocular anomalies adversely affecting their ability to maintain near-point vision.

A wonderful solution to combat this is an anti-fatigue lens, particularly the Endless Anti-Fatigue Single Vision lens. Designed with advanced Digital Ray Path 2 (DRP2) technology, this lens not only provides exceptional clarity at a distance but also offers targeted power boosts at near vision. Available in +0.50D, +0.75D, and +1.00D, these boosts help relax the eyes, reducing strain and improving focus during prolonged periods of reading and screen use.

*Disclaimer: Endless Single Vision is suitable for all children, and those with accommodative dysfunction should be dispensed based on the recommendation of a qualified eye care professional.*

Aesthetic Appeal: Confidence-Boosting Eyewear

While vision quality is paramount, the aesthetic appeal of eyewear should not be overlooked. Children are often sensitive about their appearance, and bulky or unattractive lenses can impact their self-esteem. In this regard, Endless Single Vision lenses are a game-changer.

These lenses are also crafted with DRP2 technology, eliminating oblique aberrations and increasing fields of view. Even when wearing single-vision lenses, rotating our eyes in different positions of gaze can cause us to experience obliquities. Endless Single Vision lenses eliminate troublesome aberrations. The icing on the cake? Cosmetically, they’re fantastic.

This digital single vision solution will make these surfaced lenses much thinner and more attractive, putting the focus will be on the fabulous frame, not the thicker lenses. For sporty kids, these lenses are compatible with higher Rx’s and wrapped frames.

The Advantage of Modern Bifocals

For children who require bifocals, traditional segmented lenses can be a source of discomfort and social anxiety. The Endless Bifocal offers a modern alternative. This back-surface digital freeform lens provides wide fields of view for both distance and near, and also incorporates DRP2 to further expand fields of view without aberration. The best part: it is cosmetically appealing and looks just like a single vision lens. Ensuring the eyewear is both effective and discreet can help with compliance, as it is so crucial for the child to wear the eyeglasses as prescribed.

Why Bifocals for Kids?

Usually, doctors prescribe bifocals to a child to help with their focusing system, particularly to correct their binocular vision. Sometimes there is esophoria (or accommodative esotropia) present, which makes this optical solution even more important. If left untreated, lazy eye can occur, and there is a limited window of time to solve this ocular anomaly.

The good news is that many children outgrow their need for bifocals as their vision improves, and the lenses have trained their eyes to stay in ortho. Because of this finite window of time, it makes compliance more important than ever. Chances are, if the child wears a segmented bifocal and gets teased, the eyeglasses will ‘suddenly’ get lost or broken… in practice, this is something we have seen often. Dispensing the Endless Bifocal as a solution for these precious kiddos is a win-win. They get the visual training they need, combined with the cosmetics of a regular single vision lens.

Investing in Their Future

The evolution of lens technology has given us the tools to provide children with eyewear that not only meets their visual needs but also supports their confidence and comfort. Let’s give the new generation the best of the best for their ultimate success in school, and in life!

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About the Authors

Laurie Pierce

Professor of Opticianry

Laurie Pierce is an Associate Professor in the Opticianry program at Hillsborough Community College in Tampa, Florida. Laurie is a graduate of Newbury College’s opticianary program in Boston and managed Lugene Opticians, an upscale optical boutique in Boston’s Copley Place. She lectures extensively on optical theory and management topics at local, regional, and national optical conferences. Laurie is also certified as an ABO Master Optician and is certified by the National Contact Lens Examiners. She has received the National Federation of Opticianry Schools Educator of the Year award and was named by Vision Monday as one of America’s Most Influential Women in Optics.